It seems that China has spread its influence more in our area of influence. It is chipping away slowly to erode our dominant position w.r.t. our various neighbours. Nepal has a communist government, Pakistan is leaning on China, Mynamar too is not very stable, Sri Lanka has increased its trade with China. In the '50s it was Tibet. And now Maldives too. Are we getting encircled by Chinese influence ? I think historically China considers India as its territory.

NEW DELHI: It was only a few weeks ago that Maldives foreign minister Mohamed Asim arrived in India as a special envoy for President Abdulla Yameen, swearing by his ostensible "India First" policy. Little known was the fact that India-Maldives relations would soon plunge to an all-time low with the Yameen government refusing to address any of India's concerns.

By then, nobody in the Indian system set much store by these words, because it had become clear for some time that for President Yameen, "India First" has been replaced by "China First". How did that happen?

Miffed by power grab, India snubs Maldives special envoy

It must be remembered that President Yameen did not bring China into the Maldives. That credit goes to former president Mohamed Nasheed, who, in 2011, allowed the Chinese to open their embassy in Male, and opened the doors to Chinese economic presence in the Maldives, despite Indian reservations.

However, Yameen took the China relationship to new levels, even as his profound distrust of India deepened. From India's point of view, the biggest "red line" was breached after Yameen signed a free-trade agreement+ (FTA) with China in December 2017, rushing it through the Majlis late at night, when members were given less than 15 minutes to read and approve the deal.

Just wait for a decade, Mauritius wouldn’t exist. I used to joke to my friends, in the USA (or whole world) we all just drive 5-6 hours one way for leisure trip.. causing pollution, this snow caps melt on poles and people in Mauritius see an inch of rise in ocean level.

I heard most people in Mauritius are selling off their properties and moving to India, etc.. is it true?